Hillwood High (Sophomore Year)
by NJay
Summary: Life in Hillwood has been different ever since Arnold left three years ago, but one fateful night before the gang starts Sophomore year brings them together and brings out their dirty little secrets threatening to ruin their lives. Who's going to help them now that Arnold's gone?.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I loved her simply because I found her irresistible. Once for all; I knew to my sorrow, often and often, if not always, that I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. Once for all; I love her none the less because I knew it, and it had no more influence in restraining me, than if I had devoutly believed her to be human perfection."  
― Charles Dickens, _Great Expectations_

_This used to be his favorite quote, he read it to me once when we sat in the school library, working on our book report assignment in junior high.  
It took me a while to understand that quote made him think of me. I still remember how he chuckled when I finally told him I got why that was his favorite quote from the book. _

_How I miss the sound of his chuckle…_

_Author's Note: Hi there, it's been a while since I've written an HA! Fanfic. But now that I have six weeks off before uni starts again I thought I'd work on this fanfic which has been on my mind for a while.  
Basically it's how I imagine 'The Patakis' would be like by taking ideas from Craig's interviews on the show that never came to be. Hope you enjoy it, I'd love to read what you think about it.  
Peace and Love 3._


	2. What happened in the years before

**Chapter 1: What happened in the years before.**

August 2003

_(Helga)_

_I huffed as tossed the book that I was reading on the floor and rolled over in bed frustrated. They don't write good books anymore.  
Staring blankly at the ceiling I contemplated how I only had two days left before I start my Sophomore year in high school … and three years since Arnold went away._

_I shut my eyes tight as if to stop the pain of that memory from spreading through my heart._

_Just then my cell phone vibrated, it was Phoebe._

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath before I answered, "Hey Pheebs."

"Helga, have you gotten Rhonda's email?."

"I haven't checked my email yet. Why would Rhonda _Lloyd _send me an email?." I asked as I turned on my computer.

"She's sent me an invitation to her party tomorrow evening."

"Yup. Me too." I said as I checked my inbox. _"You are invited to my party tomorrow evening at my place at 7.30 sharp. See you there.  
xoxo –Rhonda._

Whatever happened to _cordially_ and _soiree_?." I raised my brows at the straightforward email.

Phoebe chuckled on the other end of the line, "The email seemed hurried though, will you be going?."

"Not sure." I shrugged as I turned off my PC, "Parties aren't my thing, especially Rhonda's- are you?."

"Well Gerald's not particularly interested in going… "

We were silent for a few seconds, "Know what? Let's go. I know the next two days are going to be particularly boring and I have a hunch our first assignment for English class would be to write an essay on how we spent our summer vacation." I rolled my eyes. "Her party will probably give me a little inspiration to write something about my _uneventful_ summer."

"O- kay." Phoebe said sounding a little surprised. "I'm heading to the bookstore, want to come?."

"Sure Pheebs. I'll meet you in fifteen."

_The next day I stopped at Phoebe's place before heading to the party. I wore a denim jumper dress with pink high tops and my blue beanie which I wear over my pink hair ribbon._

"When was the last time we've actually _talked_ to Rhonda?." I suddenly asked Phoebe the next day as we both walked towards Rhonda's place.  
_She also dressed casually with a denim miniskirt and a multicolored striped top. _

Phoebe contemplated a bit before she said, "Not till after Junior high if my memory serves me right."

"When did we all go our separate ways?." I asked myself more than I asked Phoebe.

_After Arnold left Hillwood with his parents to go back to San Lorenzo the gang slowly separated. No more baseball games or solving urban legends in the graveyards. No more slumber parties. No more crazy Halloween stunts. None of that.  
It's like we all separated into our own little groups. Phoebe and I. Rhonda with Nadine and her new posse. Sid, Harold and Stinky … obviously. And the others just found other groups or people they were comfortable hanging out with.  
As much as I hate to admit it, I kind of miss those days._

_Curly's eased up on Rhonda since Freshman year, I'm glad he did though. She's been seeing some bumbrain of a jock named Ashton. That big guy could easily cream the little crazed freak. Gerald and Phoebe have been dating for a year now. Brainy doesn't creepily show up out of nowhere breathing over my shoulder._

"Hey girls." Sid smiled from across the street at us as he walked over to us. "Going to Rhonda's party?."

_He was dressed simply in a white t-shirt and worn out jeans with his old green baseball cap turned backwards. That with his shoulder length black hair matched his bad boy reputation. Sid's already been to juvie once, he wasn't all bad. He was more like a good boy stupidly doing bad things. _

"Yup." I replied.

"Cool! Me too." He grinned at us and we both stopped in our tracks.

"Rhonda actually invited you?." Phoebe asked.

"I'm as surprised as you are." He told her.

"Wow, did she suddenly get nostalgic or something?." I asked.

"Why don't you ask her that?." Sid suggested as we reached the Lloyd residence.

_We hesitated and argued on who should ring the doorbell till I decided to end the lameness of the situation and ring the doorbell. I admit I felt nervous too. It seemed so weird to be back here after so long._

"Helga! Phoebe! Sid!." Rhonda Lloyd who wore a short red dress greeted us enthusiastically as she opened the door. "Come in, come in. It's so good to see you guys again!."

"Uh... likewise." I forced a smile.

_As soon as we entered the living room we saw everyone we've known since preschool.  
Sheena and Eugene were seated on the couch casually chatting. Lila, Katrinka and Nadine were at the snacks table, so were Peapod, Curly and Park. Harold and Stinky were sitting on some chairs at one corner of the room till they noticed Sid and waved at him to come over leaving me and Phoebe awkwardly standing there._

"You girls can help yourselves to some snacks or-."

Before Rhonda could continue the doorbell rang.

"I'll go get that." She smiled and hurried to the door.

"Helga! Phoebe!." Sheena waved to us to come over.

"Hi Sheena." Phoebe greeted when we walked over to her.

"Isn't this nice?." The taller girl asked as she clasped her fingers. "All of us together again under one roof. Well, besides at school."

_Sheena's ethnic print midi skirt and spaghetti-stop with a flower print matched her hippie-like personality._

_I looked around again and noticed no new faces. Just our old classmates. No posse, no bumbrain boyfriend._

"Don't you find it weird though?." I asked when I turned back to the two girls. "I mean where's that stupid boyfriend of hers? Didn't she invite him?."

"They broke up." Nadine who wore a green slip-on dress told me when she came over to the snacks table and grabbed a glass of punch.

"When did that happen?." Phoebe asked.

"Last week."

"About time." I mumbled. "What's the party for anyway?."

"She wouldn't tell me." Nadine replied. "She suddenly had this crazy idea to have a small party and invited all the kids we've known from PS118."

"Ok guys!." Rhonda clapped her hands. "Now that everyone's here, let the games begin! Come on gather around."

Rhonda gathered everyone around and sat on the big carpet on the floor, folding her legs beneath her.

"So what's it gonna be? Truth or Dare or Charades?." She asked us looking at each one of our faces as we sat in a circle in her living room.

Everyone awkwardly looked at each till Nadine casually replied seeing how everyone else seemed to have lost their voice.

"Truth or Dare."

"Great! I'll just a bottle, be right back!." Rhonda got up and headed towards the kitchen.

"Truth or Dare?." I asked Nadine who simply shrugged at me as she sipped on her glass of punch.

"It would've been better if it was seven minutes in heaven instead." Sid grinned cheekily at us.

"Yeah Sid like you haven't half the girls population at PS118." Harold scoffed.

"Hey it's not my fault the ladies find me irresistible." Sid coolly replied.

"You's a straight-up ladies man Sid." Stinky told him.

"Careful Sid, I might even take your place." Curly said.

"Nobody said it was a competition." Sid retorted making Lila and Katrinka giggle.

"I'm back." Rhonda announced with an awkward smile plastered on her face. "Ok so here's how it's gonna be. Whoever the neck of the bottle points to gets asked."

_Rhonda spun the bottle which pointed at Eugene._

"Ok Eugene umm…" Rhonda thought of a question. "Went anywhere this summer?."

"Well uh let's see. My family and I went over to visit the Niagara falls and-."

"Bo-ring!." Harold grabbed the bottle and spun it making the nozzle stop in Phoebe's direction. I'll show you how it's really played."

_Harold cracked his fingers._

"So Phoebe, I don't see Gerald here. Why isn't he here?." He taunted.

"He was just- he couldn't make it." Phoebe stammered.

"And why not?."

"This isn't the Spanish Inquisition _Pink boy_, one question per turn!." I told him as I grabbed the bottle and spun it hoping it would land in Rhonda's direction.

_Bingo!_

"Alright _Princess_,"

_Wow it has been a while since I called her that._

"what's this party for?."

"Wh- what do you mean Helga?." Rhonda's eyes shifted nervously.

"You know what I mean. It's no one but your former classmates from PS 118 here at this party. Where are your friends?."

"You said one question per person." Harold protested to which I gave him a death glare to shut him up.

_Everyone inched closer to hear Rhonda's answer._

"So what is it _Rhondalloid_. Why are we all here?." I asked again.

**Author's Note: So there you go, the official first chapter of my fic. Sorry for the late upload but I didn't want to post this chapter until I was satisfied with it. So far I've only gotten one review (Thanks Anjyu!) hopefully this chapter will change that.  
Let me know what you think so far 3**


	3. We're here for you

**Chapter 2:**** We're here for you.**

"Spit it out Princess what's this party for?." I asked again.

_Rhonda nervously twirled her long dark hair around her finger till she finally gave in with a sigh._

"I just- I just missed you guys ok?!." She blurted before burying her face in her hands and bursting into tears.

_Tears that felt like they've been held in for a while…_

"Are you crying?." I felt a little awkward and guilty.

"Rhonda." Nadine got up from her place and went over to her best friend and comforted her.

"Are you ok Rhonda?." Katrinka asked.

"No. I'm not ok!." Rhonda sobbed. "Ever since I broke up with Ashton because I caught him cheating on me with that bimbo Jenna and I realized my whole life was- fake!."

_Lila brought her a box of tissues._

"Thank you." She sniffed. "You guys were the only _real_ people I've known. I missed you guys."

"We're here for you Rhonda. We always will be." Nadine turned to the rest of the gang "Right guys?."

_The boys awkwardly nodded while the girls politely assured her that if she needed anything they'd be glad to help.  
We all went back home after the party, as Phoebe and I walked we didn't say much about what happened. Maybe it was because we still felt weird about the unexpected turn of events. _

_We haven't heard from Rhonda over the weekend, which I was kinda relieved about. I still felt weird about what happened at the party.  
I waited at the stoop of our house Monday morning waiting for Phoebe to come pick me up so we went to school together. I tried to let it sink in, I'm finally a Sophomore, I'm half a year away from getting my driver's license.  
Olga once told me that Sophomore year was supposed to be the easiest and best year of my high school life. Speaking of Olga, she'll be coming back home from Bennington next week. Yup, she's finally graduated.  
I groaned internally at the thought of seeing her every single day._

"Helga!." Phoebe called to me from her mother's car and got out of the front seat to sit with me in the back seat.

"Hi Mrs. Hyerdhal." I politely greeted.

"Hi Helga, ready for school?." She asked.

"Ma'am, no one's ever ready for school." I joked and she chuckled light heartedly.

_Phoebe looked more than ready with her green pencil skirt and crispy white buttoned shirt. I just wore my jeans and pink polo shirt and of course my blue beanie, very basic.  
As soon as we reached school we saw many new faces; confused, nervous and a few excited faces standing right In front of Hillwood High._

"Wow look at all those Freshmen." Phoebe told me.

"Were we that many last year?." I asked as I looked around the swarms of kids freshly graduated from Junior high.

"I don't recall really… as a matter of fact, I don't quite remember the specifics of my first day here at Hillwood High. It was like all a blur."

"That's usually the case." I shrugged nonchalantly.

"Oh! Helga, I just remembered. Gerald texted me last night and asked me to meet him by the parking lot!." Phoebe squeaked.

"Parking lot?," I raised my brow. "You mean?."

Phoebe quickly covered my mouth with her tiny hand.

"Please don't say a word Helga, I don't wanna jinx it."

"Alright, alright." I said pulling her hand away.

"Oooh my heart's beating faster now. Will you come with me Helga?." She sweetly pleaded.

_I pretended not to care by rolling my eyes and making her feel like me agreeing to go with her was like some sort of benign task that I'm doing just because she wouldn't stop pleading.  
But honestly I couldn't be happier for her. Really. She and tall hair boy started dating over the summer. I wouldn't call it a summer romance, because they seemed really serious about it. Heck they've always had a thing for each other ever since the third grade! Everybody knew it._

_As I was being dragged towards the parking lot I had this little daydream that I was the one dragging Phoebe towards the parking lot, my eagerness growing with every quick step I took towards my handsome, golden-haired prince showing me his new stallion… or his grandpa's Packard._

"Gerald!." Phoebe's squeal thankfully woke me up from that silly mini daydream as she ran towards her boyfriend who was leaning against his new ride.

_He no longer sported his kid hairdo like he used to a few years back. His hair now was in cornrows which showed more of his face._

"Hey Babe!." He greeted back carrying her little frame and spun her around a couple of times before putting her down. "What do you think?."

"Oh it looks wonderful!." Phoebe seemed like she'd explode into fireworks.

"You can call your mom and tell her I'll be dropping you home after school today. Tell her not to worry since I got my driver's license on July and I had a whole month to perfect my driving."

"I don't think mother would mind as much as father will." The excitement seemed to have died down at the mention of Mr. Hyerdahl.

"Oh yeah your dad." Gerald nervously scratched the back of his neck.

_You can tell how much Phoebe's dad has been more of an inconvenience to their relationship. Strict interviews, strict curfews, constant phone calls from him when they went on dates._

"I-it's cool. I'll try talking to him."

_This guy's got balls!._

"Hey fellars Gerald finally got himself a car." The familiar nasally voice of a particular country boy came as I turned to see Stinky and Sid coming out of Harold's hummer.

"Isn't that your brother's car?." Harold asked as he came around and inspected it.

"Yup. Jamie O finally decided to give me his prized possession." Gerald proudly but coolly told them.

"Congratulations man." Sid smiled at him. "Looks great."

"Thank you Sid."

"Still wearing that beanie Pataki?." Harold smirked as he walked past me.

_Wait! What?, Harold hasn't teased me let alone spoken to me since we graduated PS118!.  
I was too taken by surprise to retort as I saw him walk away with Stinky and saying something about stopping by the cafeteria for a quick bite before heading to class._

"Don't worry about him." Sid told with a wink me as he followed his friends.

"Did Sid just wink at you?." Rhonda asked as she and Nadine walked towards me.

_Was there a look of concern on her face or was I still hung over from not getting used to waking up at seven in the morning?._

"He winks at everyone." Nadine casually replied as she checked herself in one of the cars' mirrors.

Rhonda grinned as if it was nothing and turned to Gerald, "Nice car Gerald! New?."

"Uh, no. It used to Jamie O's."

"Cool. Retro."

_Rhonda looked more an upperclassman with her baby pink blazer and matching mini pencil skirt and Nadine wore a sequined gold top with a long denim skirt.  
Was I the only girl in school who wore jeans?._

"Rhonda!." A blonde and a redhead walked towards Rhonda and Nadine.

"Where have you been all weekend? You haven't replied to my texts!." The blonde who went by the name of Hailey asked.

"Sorry girls I was just kinda… busy."

The redhead, Sasha, still had her eyes on her phone when she chimed in. "Ya well to bad. We like totally had an awesome weekend. Nice outfit by the way."

The bell rang and we all hurried towards our classes.

Phoebe and I had American History for first period. We seemed to be the last ones to arrive since the only empty seats were the ones in front.

"Phoebe! Helga!." Lila sweetly waved to us as soon as we entered class.

_I smiled and waved back as I took my seat. What is going on with everyone? Did Rhonda's sudden nostalgic speech at her party get to everyone?.  
Lila didn't bother me anymore as much as she used to back when were younger, but that didn't mean we've been good friends since._

_Our history teacher came in. She wasn't the stereotypical, ancient, strict type of teacher as portrayed on TV.  
This one was younger and all smiles._

"Sorry I'm late kids." She brushed back stray strands of her chestnut brown hair from her forehead and smiled apologetically. "I'm new here."

_I could hear some boys behind me chuckling and talking about how awesome it was to start the day with a pretty face. _

"I'm gonna be your history teacher for the whole year,"

"We don't mind." One of the boys whispered to his friends who chuckled at his remark.

"My name- is- Miss Ortega. Rita Ortega."

"Awesome." The same guy high fived his buddies.

"Ya but that's gonna change to Mrs. Cruz next week." She winked at him. "So I guess you don't need to get used to my current last name just yet."

_The class burst in chuckles and giggles. _

_I like her. _

_For second period Phoebe and I had biology. There were so many people we knew there that it almost felt like I was back in the 4__th__ grade!.  
Nadine, Sheena, Rhonda, Brainy, Joey and even Eugene with his never failing smile._

"Omigosh it's like we're back in PS118 again!." Nadine sounded out my thoughts.

"Awesome." I said more to myself with a hint of sarcasm.

_'... it's like someone put something in the water here in Hillwood! I have a feeling this year is gonna be different from last year. Don't ask why, it's just a hunch. And usually my hunch almost always gets it right.  
I know I say this over and over again, but I wish you were here. I wish I was on the phone with you right now instead of me writing this letter to you.'_

_I paused. A letter that I might end up not mailing it to you, I told myself._

_'I miss you, and I love you.  
Forever and always,  
Helga.'_

_I reread my letter to Arnold to check for any grammatical or spelling errors before placing it in an envelope and licking the glue seal._

_Yeah… I think this one's going in the binder._

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews and following guys! Sorry I took a while, I wasn't feeling very well the last couple of days. Hope this chapter was worth the wait. If you like my fic so far tell a friend, sharing is caring after all right? 3  
As you can see the last part is very similar to what Craig Bartlett said about Helga in The Patakis where she'd write a letter to Arnold after each episode and would end up not mailing it.  
Oh and I decided to change the title from PHS118 to Hillwood High, sounds much better doesn't it? Lemme know what you guys think so far.**


	4. Choices

**Chapter 3: Choices **

_I hit the snooze button and struggled to get out of bed. It was already the second week of school and my sleeping hours are stilled messed up._

_After five minutes of precious quality time with my bed I painfully struggled to pull myself out of bed, got dressed and rushed downstairs to the kitchen for breakfast before Phoebe's mom came over to pick me up. _

"Morning Miriam." I mumbled as I sat on the kitchen table and ate away at the bacon and eggs waiting for me on a plate.

"Good morning Helga." Mom gave me sweet kiss on my forehead as she pulled a chair and sat beside me eating her breakfast.

_She doesn't slur anymore. Wakes up at six in the morning and looks a lot more polished than she used to._

_Thank you twelve-step._

"So how's school so far?." She asked me as she placed a piece of hash brown in her mouth.

"Good." I replied with my mouth full.

"Helga, I've told you before. Don't talk with your mouth full."

I swallowed, "sorry mom, but I'm kind of in a hurry."

_A honk outside let me know that they've arrived and I got up and kissed Miriam on the cheek before leaving.  
Life at home isn't really perfect, but things are getting better. Mom's more sober and productive than she used to be. Big Bob left on a business trip last night and won't be coming till Thursday meaning I'm going to have more peace and quiet at home.  
The only down side to this week is Olga coming home on Saturday._

_We reached school just in time for the first bell but we saw students walking towards the auditorium._

"What's going on?." I asked.

"Principal Beaton is holding up an emergency assembly." Curly replied. "Better hurry or you'll be standing at the back. Everyone in school is supposed to attend." He told us and raced off.

_Phoebe and I took his advice and got on our heels but it was already too late._

"Sorry no more seats ladies, you'll have to stand in the back." Coach Ebstein told us.

"You know if we walked faster we wouldn't be standing here." We saw Nadine groan to Rhonda who was checking out her perfectly manicured nails.

"Nadine, I can't possibly run with my heels. What if I trip and hurt myself or something?." Rhonda saw us walking towards them. "Hey girls! See Nadine? They're not wearing heels and they get to stand here too."

_Nadine huffed and crossed her arms._

"Helga, Phoebe these are for you." Rhonda took out a couple of pink envelopes from her handbag and gave them to us.

"What's this?." I asked as I opened to the envelope.

"I'm having a slumber party this saturday, but don't tell anyone about it. It's invite only." She winked at us.

"O-kay?." I raised my brow questionably at her.

_Brow, because I still have my mono-brow. Stubbornly of course, just to keep the boys away. _

"Students, Students." Came the stern voice of Hillwood High's revered principal over the microphone.

_He looked younger than his actual age only his graying yet thick short hair giving away that he was a man in his late fifties. With his thick, dark eyebrows he looked more like George Clooney—sans the smile._

_Beaton tapped the microphone making that annoying high-pitched sound that spread in the hall and grabbing everyone's attention._

Clearing his throat a couple of times before speaking, "Good morning Hillwood High." He started with a stern voice. "I called you here this morning for an important announcement. I had a meeting with the school board and staff members last week and had a look at some of the statistics of the school.

"It seems that we ranked among the lowest schools in extracurricular activities! We don't seem to be having a shortage in extracurricular activities do we? I mean, we have the basketball team, drama club, volunteering events, glee and chess clubs.

_Some students snickered at the mention of the last two clubs._

"I'm not sure if you know this, but most colleges usually require students to have taken part in at least one or two extracurricular activities. So from now on I'm gonna want each and every-one of you to take part in _at least one_ extracurricular activity or you don't your diploma.

_Groans of protest echoed throughout the hall but Beaton didn't look deterred._

"I mean it. And I don't want excuses of these activities getting in the way of your studying or whatever. I've reviewed exam dates and with a little good time management you guy will be fine, It'll be good for you. You have till Thursday to hand in your forms for your choice of activity.  
You may be dismissed."

_As soon as the students started dispersing they started discussing about what they wanted to take. This guy was better than Wartz!._

"This guy's way worse than Wartz!." Nadine exclaimed to Rhonda who looked at her phone reading an SMS she just received.

"Rhonda?." Nadine waved at her friend to get her attention.

"Huh? Uh- I'm gonna see you girls at class." She nervously told us and went away.

"Where are you going?." Nadine called out but didn't get a reply.

_What's going on?_

_School was finally done and as soon as I walked out of the main entrance someone honked and called out my name.  
It was Miriam! In a car!._

"Isn't that your mom Helga?." Phoebe asked.

"I-it is! Mom when did you get your license back?."

"Just this morning hun, isn't this great!." She squealed like an excited teenager who just passed driver's ed.

"Wow congratulations mom!." I told her wholeheartedly.

"Phoebe honey, how are you getting back home?." Mom asked.

"My mother will be picking me up in a few minutes."

"Ok, well then I guess I'll have to steal Helga from you today."

"No problem."

"Where are we going mom?." I asked as we drove away.

"Well. Since we're the only ones at home I thought we could maybe have a girls' day out. So I'm taking you with me to the mall. We can have lunch and buy clothes for Olga's graduation party."

_Of course._

"Hope they didn't give you much homework."

"Nope."

"Helga, are you done trying it on?." Mom asked me as she waited outside the fitting room.

"Yes." I replied.

"Well come out so I can see you."

"No."

"Why not?."

"Because!." My protest was cut short with me not having a sensible response.

_We were trying out dresses to wear for the graduation party and Miriam picked out a gradient pink frock.  
I mean, it's not my first time wearing a dress but prettying up like this…._

"Well I'm coming in young lady." Miriam pulled the curtain and froze for a moment as she saw me.

"Mom?." I asked uncomfortably.

"Oh-my-gosh honey!." She finally blurted and hugged me tightly.

"Mom! What are you doing!." I pushed her away and paused when I saw tears in her eyes.

"Look at how much you've grown!."

"Stop it mom, you're making me uncomfortable." I mumbled as I rubbed my right arm.

"It's just that-" She took of her glasses and wiped the tears from her eyes. "it's been a while since I went shopping like this.  
Olga's been busy with extracurricular activities and competitions and she was so popular that she'd be hanging out with her friends every weekend…"

_I kinda felt sorry for Miriam at that moment. Miriam's lived the loneliest life with Bob and Olga. I almost don't blame her for her substance abuse in the past years._

_And so, despite the purpose of our shopping trip and me not liking the activity of shopping, I actually had an enjoyable time with Miriam. She can be pretty cool when she wants to.  
As we sat and ate lunch she told me stories of her in school. There was so much we had in common than I agreed to admit. It actually kinda scared me that I made a mental note not fall in love with any loser I meet in college._

_Love…_

_Big Bob's taken a lot from Miriam. Her youth, her dreams and ambitions and turned her into the mess that she used to be. I'm so thankful she decided to attend AA._

__"You done eating honey?." Miriam asked.

_I took a last sip from my orange juice and nodded._

"Ok then, come with me."

"Where are we going mom?." I asked as I followed her with my tray and dumped its contents into a nearby trashcan before returning it to the counter.

_I bit back a groan as Miriam led me to a beauty salon. I promised I'd make her happy today… even if it killed me._

"Hi. I made an appointment for two this morning." She told the receptionist who told us to take our seats.

**Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys! And so many questions about Arnold I guess I'll have to give it away. He will be showing up, I won't tell you when just to keep you on your toes ;) I'm feeling much better now thanks for your wishes 3 stay tuned for the next chapter. 3 Love yous.**


	5. Secrets

_(Sorry for the mix up everyone, I realized I accidentally reposted Chap3 instead of Chap4. Well here it is, enjoy 3 )_

**Chapter 4: Secrets**

_I can't believe I'm here, walking towards the school main entrance. How on earth did I let myself to get out of bed and march to my social death!? _

_Oh ya, I didn't want to hurt Miriam's feelings. _

_As soon as I entered school I could see people stop in their tracks, stop what they were doing, do a double take. Some guy even walked into another guy because he was staring at me!_

_Quickening my steps to reach my locker and to run away from all the stares I saw Phoebe and Sheena standing by my locker.  
Sheena involuntarily dropped her books on the floor signifying her shock like everyone else._

"Helga?." Phoebe said unsure.

"Bingo." I replied sarcastically opening my locker and taking out my books.

"What happened?."

"What do you think!."

"You had your eyebrows done and your hair trimmed." Rhonda answered my rhetorical question. She didn't seem as surprised as everybody else. "You must give me the salon name."

"You're not gonna drop your stuff or run into walls or something?." I asked incredulous.

Rhonda shrugged, "I watch extreme makeover."

"Wow you're- really something Rhonda." I told her and with a wink she headed to class at the sound of the bell.

"So how's convincing your dad to let Gerald drive you to and from school going?." I asked Phoebe as we waited for the bus after school.

_Phoebe let out a small sigh that explained everything. I put an arm over her shoulders comforting her.  
Looking at the books on my lap I noticed that I'd forgotten a specific pink book in class._

"I'll be back in a minute, hold the hold bus for me Pheebs." I told her as I hurriedly ran towards school.

_I felt a wave of relief wash over me when I saw that it was still in my desk. I scolded myself for forgetting my journal again. Of all the books!  
Not wanting to miss the bus I took to my feet through the empty halls of Hillwood High. I should've agreed to Miriam picking me up after school._

"Criminy!." I exclaimed when I fell to the ground after bumping into something,,, or rather someone.

Sid groaned as he clutched his head, "What are you? Made of bricks?."

_I wanted to retort but noticed his lower lip was swollen. Almost asking him what happened I decided not to when I felt my phone vibrate and immediately knew it was Phoebe telling me the bus had come.  
Quickly apologizing to him I raced towards the bus stop making it just in time._

"Thanks for holding us up Pataki." Melissa, a snobby nerd with glasses covering half her scowling face sarcastically told me as I took my seat beside Phoebe.

"Can it Melissa! it was just one minute." I retorted.

"Um Helga?."

"What is it Phoebe?." I turned to my best friend who handed me a small piece of paper.

"It's from Cody." She told me as I checked out its contents.

_In it was a phone number and I turned to look at the blonde jock who sat at the back of the bus giving me a wink mouthing the words 'Call me'. Ew._

_I just sighed and threw away the note. It's the fifth note today!_

"You're getting popular with the boys." Phoebe smiled at me.

"Not that I care. I know exactly what they're thinking about."

"Is this about… Arnold?." She hesitantly asked.

"Could we not talk about that?." For some reason I felt my temper flare up.

"Sorry."

_Rhonda parked her car infront of a house and texted a certain resident to let her know she was here. A minute later a redhead stepped out with a cheeky smile as she walked towards the brunette who didn't seem amused by the situation not one bit._

"Finished what I told you to do?." Sasha asked.

Rhonda just handed her a couple of papers, "take the damn papers already."

Sasha let out a spiteful chuckle before waving goodbye Rhonda who drove away.

_She__ yawned for what seemed the umpteenth time today and it was getting contagious!_

"Would you stop yawning already _princess_?," I told her as we stood in the cafeteria line. "Criminy! Didn't you get any sleep last night?."

"Honestly Helga, no I didn't get any sleep till around 4am. Happy?." She retorted.

"Four am?! That's way too late even for me!." I exclaimed picking up a cup of tapioca. "What were you doing up so late?."

"Working on the biology assignment that was due today."

"Geez, I don't wanna sound like Phoebe, but, if you worked on it over the weekend you wouldn't have the trouble of staying up late on a school night. I mean the assignment barely takes a couple of hours."

"I-I was busy alright!." She stammered.

"Whatever." I mumbled after paying for my lunch.

"Uh Helga?." I turned around to a now desperate looking Rhonda.

"What?."

"Can I sit with you and Phoebe? Nadine didn't show up for school today and-" She trailed off looking at the floor like she didn't want to say anything more.

"Why aren't you sitting with Britney and Lindsay over there?."

"I just- don't wanna sit with them today."

"What happened? You got into a fight or something?."

"I don't wanna talk about it ok?."

_I blinked a couple of times, seems pretty serious. I agreed without probing any further._

"Why hello Rhonda." Phoebe greeted sweetly. She wasn't as surprised as I was when she sat at our table.

"Hi Phoebe."

_So we just sat there. Rhonda and Phoebe did the most talking as Rhonda talked about her summer in Paris and cute French boys… of course._

"I wish I was still there." Rhonda sighed whimsically picking up the small carton of chocolate milk.

"Oops." Sasha let out an evil laugh proving that she did that on purpose. "You should watch where you're sitting Rhonda."

_Hailey laughed along. Shockingly, Rhonda only gave her an angry look and just grabbed a couple of tissues and quietly wiped the brown stain on her navy sleeveless top.  
What?! Am I seeing right?! Rhonda just sat there like a nerd used to being bullied. No 'What did you just do to my very expensive top?' or 'This is dry clean only!'…. none of that!.  
That's it! I'm not standing back any longer._

_"_Want clumsy Ginger?." I grabbed my glass of lemonade and sloshed it on her shirt.

_Sasha shrieked and before I knew it her friend stepped in and threw something at my face._

"Why you little-"

"Fooood Fiiiight!" _Some random kid called out drowning my obscenity and soon enough food items were flying around in the cafeteria!_

"Oh dear!." I heard Phoebe say as she pulled me under the table to take refuge along with her and Rhonda.

"Look at what you started Helga!." Rhonda blamed.

"Hey! I was standing up for your sorry butt Princess when you chose to just sit there and let that bimbo insult you! What's going on between you and them anyway?."

"Long Story. I'm not ready to talk about it."

_Again, I didn't probe any further knowing Rhonda would ultimately reach her breaking point soon enough and going to someone for help. _

"Let's just get out of here." Phoebe grabbed an empty tray and we did the same following her as she carefully maneuvered through the flying food stuffs.

_I even caught a glimpse of Curly cackling like crazy as he shook a can of soft drinks in each hand.  
Some things don't change…_

**Author's Note: Once again, thanks for your reviews. Thanks for following and fav-ing my fic 3 much love to all of you. And (GUEST) that's great news! I actually joined this group on facebook called 'Save the Jungle movie' just so they could make The Patakis if the movie ever came to be. And aww thanks, I'm sure The Patakis would be even more better than my fic 3 Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	6. Damned if you, damned if you don't

**Chapter 5: Damned if you do, damned if you don't.**

_Due to the other day's fiasco at the cafeteria, the whole school was once again called for an emergency assembly the next morning.  
Principal Beaton went on about how much losses it cost the school, how many calls they got from angry parents complaining about their kids coming back home soggy and smelly and stained. How this has been the first food ever at Hillwood High. Which seemed pretty cool that we sort of made history in a way._

_The assembly lasted for a whole period. Which most students were thankful for._

"Ok students, since it's our second week into the academic year I will be putting you into groups of two." Our biology teacher Mr. Camp announced. He was a scrawny, tall man with short curly hair and wore thick glasses. He seemed to be in his early thirties. He never smiled.

"I've written your names on a piece of paper and put them in this bowl. I need you to reach out and pick out a piece of paper. And whoever's name you get will be your partner for the rest of the year."

'Helga Pataki and Rhonda Wellington Lloyd. Please report to the principal's office.'

_Our names were called out through the speakers placed in every classroom._

_I had a wild guess that this was because of the food fight yesterday. Rhonda who was sitting two seats in front of me gave me a worried look. Funny thing is, Hailey and Sasha's names weren't called out. I made a mental note to deal with them later._

"They ratted on us, it's obvious!." Rhonda told me as we both sat in the waiting room outside the Principal's office.

"No kidding." I huffed. "I'm cream them after this."

"No! We are not getting into any more trouble with them!." Rhonda warned me.

"What's your deal Rhonda? What is it between you and them?."

"I can't tell you." Rhonda looked away nervously.

"The Principal is ready to see you ladies." The secretary told us.

"You're gonna spit out everything to me after this." I whispered as we stood up.

"Come in girls."

"G- good morning Mr. Beaton." Rhonda greeted.

"Good morning." He replied beckoning us to take a seat in the two chairs infront of his desk. "I'll cut to the chase. I've called you here because I've gotten news that you were involved in yesterday's fiasco at the cafeteria."

"Everybody was involved at the fiasco." I told him dryly sitting with my arms crossed.

He raised a brow at me and grabbed a couple of folders. "Yes but you two were, let's say, the trigger for it."

_Trigger?..._

"Helga I suppose?." He asked as he looked at my personal folder.

_Doi…_

"That's me."

"It says here that you attended counseling sessions with the school district psychiatrist in the fourth grade."

"Yeah?." I taunted.

"What did you get counseling for?." He asked.

"Anger Management."

"Anger Management." He repeated. "So here's the deal. I'm going to give you a choice of either being suspended from school for three days, or completing 20 hours of counseling with the school district counselor."

"What?!." I stood up. "That was over 5 years ago! And it wasn't us who started this shenanigan!."

"Helga." He warned.

"Sasha started the whole thing! She was the one who made Rhonda spill the milk on her top! I'm not gonna stand by and watch my friend get bullied!."

"Well you should've handled the matter more sensibly."

_Is he kidding me?!..._

"So what's it going to be Miss Pataki?." Beaton asked me.

"Thanks Helga." Rhonda told me as we stepped out of the Principal's office. "For what you said there. For standing p for me." She gave me weak smile.

I smiled back. "You owe me."

Since Rhonda had a clean record and wasn't directly involved with the fight, she only got a week's detention.  
Yours truly decided to take the counseling sessions. It's gonna be a long five weeks.

"So what's the name of your counselor?."

In my anger and rush to get out of there I realized I didn't even see who my psychiatrist was. I uncrumpled the card in my hand.

"Dr. Bliss?"

"Why hello Helga!" She glowed when she saw me. "We meet again!."

_She still looked the same, only a few fine wrinkles appeared near her eyes. Bliss still had that smooth, calming voice that could literally melt the coldest of hearts._

"It's been a while." I nervously rubbed my arm not sure whether to run over to her and hug her telling her how much I missed her, or to keep it formal.

"I've missed you." She smiled.

"Me too." I gave her a weak smile.


	7. Couples

**Chapter 6: Couples**

"Have a seat Helga." Dr. Bliss beckoned sweetly to me and I quickly obliged. "How's High school?."

I spread my arms, "What do you think?."

"It's normal." She gave a small chuckle.

_That's how Bliss is, I mean, you could be on the top of an active volcano ready to blow up and blow you to pieces but when she says stuff like 'It's normal' or 'It's gonna be ok' you believe her. Because she makes it sound so believable! It's like her words have magic or something._

"Is that how high school was like in your days?." I found myself asking.

"Helga. You haven't changed much." She gave me a placid smile. "Always asking first."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes Helga; high school never changes. It's like a jungle."

"More like a country under dictatorship."

_Bliss giggled, she picked up the note from her table_ "Exactly. So you're here for Anger Management."

"According to Beaton." I said with a humph. "They always think they know better."

"So tell me what actually happened Helga."

* * *

_Rhonda's heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she walked towards the humiliation room; also known as the detention room.  
She did her best to ignore the shrieks and stares of the students already there as she showed the pink slip to the teacher in charge and took the last desk in the room._

"That's my seat." A big girl with an even bigger scowl on her face who looked like she'd win a fight against Big Patty looked down at the skinny brunette.

"I'm sorry, nobody told me these seats were actually assigned." Rhonda apologized as she got up.

"They're not." Sid came from behind her and the other students snickered at her naivety. "I saved a seat for you." He told her as he raised his backpack from an empty seat in front of him.

_Rhonda took the seat and listened to Sid as he started describing each student and how to deal with them in case of a confrontation, how the supervisor is pretty laid back._

"Then that means we can ditch detention at this moment!." Rhonda mused.

"Trust me, we tried that once. He's cool, just not _so_ cool." Sid gave a sideways glance to the supervisor who was reading a newspaper.

"The swelling's gone from your lower lip." She told him as she lightly grazed a finger over his bottom lip.

"Get a room." A couple of boys coughed out and looked away chuckling when the dark haired couple gave them dark looks.

_Ashton wouldn't let go of Rhonda when he ran into her in the empty hallways after school the other week. He didn't wanna accept the fact that Rhonda didn't want to go back to him. Sid happened to be around and they got into a fight.  
That's when all the threats started. Threats of spreading her dirty little secrets._

"Ya. That bumbrain ex of yours really left a mark; I had to go visit mom that day and by the time I reached her house there was a purple mark all over my lip. She thought it was a hickey!."

Rhonda burst out laughing as Sid continued, "I swear he punches like a girl. He should quit that macho act he puts up."

* * *

"Mr. Hyerdahl I assure you I'm a responsible driver, _very_ responsible for my age." Gerald explained to his girlfriend's father that afternoon. "I wear a seatbelt and insist whoever rides with me does the same. I drive within the speed limit, respect all traffic signs and drive on the middle lane." He tried to keep his voice level despite his heart almost beating out of his chest.

_Phoebe nodded agreeing to everything he said smiling weakly at her father. The Japanese-American man didn't look fazed as he sat on the couch in his living room opposite the young couple._

"Come on dear you know we can trust Gerald. We've known him since forever." Phoebe's mom chipped in.

Mr. Hyerdahl put his cup down and looked Gerald in the eye. "Her curfew remains the same. And if I catch you not going through with the claims you just told me about your driving God help me-."

He was cut short with his wife placing her hand over his shoulder as if to calm him down.

"Oh thank you father!." His only daughter squealed and got up to hug him- Gerald followed and shook his hand thanking him for his trust.

"I'll walk you to the door." Phoebe offered.

"Thanks Pheebs. See you later Mr. and Mrs. Hyerdahl- and thanks again for putting your trust in me. I won't let you down." Gerald picked up his books and walked over towards the front door.

"You did good sweetheart." Mrs. Hyerdahl put a hand over her husband's who sighed taking off his glasses and massaging his temples.

"I pray I don't regret this."

"You did good Gerald." Phoebe gave her boyfriend's hand a light squeeze closing the door behind them.

Gerald smiled and squeezed her hand back, "I'm just glad I'm outta that situation. Man! I can't believe he finally agreed!."

Phoebe giggled, "me too!."

"And I just hope I don't get to drink that nasty green tea stuff no more." He put his hand over his stomach making a mental note to buy some chocolate milk or whatever snack that could take the taste out of his mouth.

* * *

_' Olga's coming home on Saturday, I won't be going to her graduation party since it's on Friday and it's in another state. I somehow managed to convince my parents that I had a really hard exam and couldn't go. In reality I'll be at Rhonda's slumber party.  
Phoebe just called- her dad finally let Gerald take her out in his car. I think I'm temporarily deaf in my right ear from all her squealing- she can get cute like that.'_

_I put my pen down wondering how I should end my letter to Arnold. Even though it had a zero chance of being mailed.  
Gerald and Phoebe—I pondered as I hopped onto my bed. They were a more normal couple than Arnold and I even before they started dating. Mine and Arnold's relationship was just- impossible. I mean we loved each other but…_

_Looking back I realized that I was the one making it impossible—Arnold always made things right. I felt a lump form in my throat as I remembered how much difficult I was when started dating. I wouldn't even reply to his letters after he left Hillwood! He probably stopped writing because of that- he probably found a sweet girl there in San Lorenzo. Maybe another version of Lila.  
These are the thoughts that haunt me almost every night. I'm such a screw-up!._

**Author's Note: Aww poor Helga. She can be a pain but could you blame her? I mean the girl grew up in a dysfunctional home. She couldn't get love from the one's closest to her how can she believe that a stranger could actually love her?.**

**And yay! Finally Gerald gets to take Phoebe for rides in his car… and Sid and Rhonda? What do you guys think? Personally I've always shipped them more than R/Curly or R/Harold. They're so cute together.**

**The settings when I post the chapters suck here on ffn, I try to make page breaks along the storylines so it wouldn't seem confusing when I jump from one story line to another but it still doesn't show when I post! Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this, and once again thanks for loving my work. I love you guys. Xoxo… **

**( Anjyu: lol what a coincidence! I mean seriously, what are the odds of me placing 2 of your sises names as characters who were close to each other? ;p)**


	8. Save me

**Chapter 7: Save me**

November 1999

_After making sure he had packed everything Arnold stood up and looked at me, "You got everything?." I asked as absent mindedly clenched the bed sheets._

_He nodded giving me a weak smile and slowly walked over to me, I lowered my gaze not wanting him to see the thin watery film forming in my eyes._

_"Helga," he said as he sat beside me. "if you want me to stay-."_

_I shook my head, "No! you should go with your parents, you've been without them for so long—be with them." I stumbled over my words._

_"I wish you could come with me too." He held my hand in his and we sat in silence for the next few minutes. I refused to look at him; maybe it'll hurt less when I don't remember how this moment really looked after he left._

_Grandpa knocked lightly on the door and told Arnold that it was time to go._

_"Let me carry this for you Shortman." He gave us a sad smile as he carried Arnold's travelling bag and we followed him quietly down the stairs towards the front door where his parents were saying their last goodbyes to the residents of Sunset Arms and their neighbors._

_._

_._

.

"Beaton's making us take Extracurricular activities." I explained to Beaton. "I mean, since when was that mandatory?."

"That man has plans for the school." Bliss smiled.

"Ya well he can keep his plans to himself."

"So what activity did you pick for this year?."

"Theater."

"You must love the stage." She noted taking a sip from her coffee mug.

"It's alright." I shrugged.

"What's the play about?."

"I don't know, we're starting next week."

"Is Arnold going to be in it?." Bliss gave me a cheeky smile.

"No." I replied sadly.

"Why not?."

.

.

"So like, this girl who's like a version of Patty on Steroids comes up to me and goes _'That's my seat'_ and I'm like _'I didn't know these seats were assigned'_ and she's like _'They're not.'_ I mean the nerve of that girl!," Rhonda was telling us about her detention. "Omigosh! And there's this other girl, she's a junior, she woldn't stop talking about this college sophomore that she's seeing. I mean college sophomore?! Ya right! I got way better hair than her and am I seeing any college guy?"

_Turns out Nadine broke her leg which was why she didn't show up to school for the last two days and so the slumber party venue was changed to her place.  
_

"Must be boring spending all that time alone in detention." Lila remarked with a bit of concern.

"Our supervisor is pretty lenient, and Sid's there to keep me company." Rhonda grabbed a pop corn from the bowl set in the middle of us as we sat in a circle.

"Sid practically lives there." Nadine said with a little bit of a scoff as she almost grabbed some popcorn but was surprised to see that Rhonda grabbed the bowl away from her and gave her an irritated look.

"He's not bad. He just does bad things—and you know his problem with OCD." _Rhonda's voice sounded distant as she sat there in silence staring sadly at the faux fur carpet we all sat on._

_She was probably recalling that time in the ninth grade when an upperclassman jock from the football team wouldn't stop harassing Rhonda. Everyone just stood there doing nothing, I even some girls that Rhonda had 'asked for it' regarding the revealing outfits she wears. But honestly who could resist her? She was tall, tanned, slim and charming.  
I almost stepped out to help her despite having not spoken to her for years but out from the groups of spectators came a tall, skinny boy pushing the bigger, buffed boy aside resulting in a fight that got physical.  
What shocked everyone more was how violent Sid seemed to get- I still shiver at the thought of what might've happened if Stinky or Harold hadn't intervened and stopped him in time.  
No school staff was there, but sissy-boy went and ratted on Sid to the principal about how Sid could've caused him any physical harm that would've threatened his chances of playing for the big game. Since that loser had a cleaner record than Sid, Sid got suspended for a few days.  
I still wonder where Rhonda was in all of this, she hadn't spoken up or defended Sid in any way…_

"Earth to Helga!." Phoebe's voice woke me from my thoughts and I looked up to see all the girls staring at me strangely.

"What?."

"We were voting on what to watch," Katrinka help up two DVDs. "Love Actually or The Wedding Planner?."

It was like they were making me choose between jumping into a pool of hungry sharks or into a cage with hungry bears "Uhhh, The Wedding Planner?."

"Omigosh! It's a unanimous vote!." Rhonda seemed to have gone back to her normal self.

.

I made sure everyone was sound asleep and shook Phoebe to wake up her up.

"Pheebs, Phoebe." I whispered.

"Wha- huh?." Phoebe woke with a start and I put a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't make any more noise and motioned for her to go outside the room. "What is it Helga?."

"Remember that big fight between Sid and the jock in the 9th grade?."

"You woke me up for that Helga?." She groaned drowsily.

"Phoebe this is serious. I mean Sid got suspended even though it wasn't his fault."

Phoebe gave a big yawn, "I dunno- what are we talking again?."

"Phoebe! Wake up!." I shook her slightly. "Didn't Rhonda have any part in this? Didn't she rat on that jock to save Sid?."

Phoebe leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. For a minute I thought she fell asleep but then she answered. "I don't think she ever opened her mouth. Can I go back to sleep now?."

"Yes, I'm sorry. Thanks Pheebs."

"Uh-huh." She lazily waved her and walked back to the room with me following behind.

_One could imagine Sid being totally mad at her for not standing up for him, but he's there in detention everyday with her keeping her company. I usually mind my own business but something's fishy going on with Rhonda and I intend to find out what it is. _

.

.

"This mashed potato is to die for honey." Miriam complimented Olga over at lunch the next day.

"And so is this steak! I sure missed your cooking Olga." Bob said with a full mouth.

"I'm done." I announced picking up my plate and headed towards the sink.

"Don't care for another serving baby sister?." Olga asked.

"No thanks, I'm full. Food was good though." I went upstairs to my room and checked my mobile phone for any messages.  
There was a message from Rhonda agreeing to meet me up with me at the park.

I found Rhonda sitting on the park bench kicking the dirt lazily as she waited for me, "Is everything alright Helga?." She asked when I sat beside her.

"You didn't tell me what was going on between you and Sasha and Hailey?." I cut to the chase.

Rhonda rolled her eyes and sighed, "We had a bit of a falling out."

"Go on."

"Just promise me everything I tell you won't slip out of your mouth. You won't tell anyone about this, not even Phoebe!." It almost felt like she was threatening me.

"I- I promise."

_Rhonda looked into my eyes for a bit as if to read my mind whether I'd break that promise or not and then proceeded to tell me about every shenanigan she and her former posse had done from crashing a frat party, to hooking up with older boys to underage drinking._

"It's not like I enjoyed doing those things," She told me to which I rolled my eyes but realized she was serious about what she'd just said when she glared at me.

"Anyway, when I dated Ashton," she took a deep shivery breath. "he asked me to send him naked pictures of me. I said no and Sasha and Hailey teased me about it like it was no big deal. We got into a fight and I broke up with Ashton. And that's when the threats came in… they just wanna bully me because I walked out on them. I was the popular one in the group and when I left them, no one really cared about them anymore."

"Does Nadine know all about this?." I asked obviously appalled.

Rhonda nodded her head, "That stuff during the party before school. All an act."

"How come she's not being bullied like you are?."

"She wasn't very much involved with our group. I just hope it stays that way, it's only between me and them."

_I almost hesitated to ask her about the Sid thing but I felt that if I knew more I could possibly help her._

"What about the Sid thing?." I risked asking her.

"What Sid thing?." She asked back.

"You know back in the 9th grade- when he stood up for you…"

"Oh. My parents wanted me to attend some big shot all girls school but I didn't wanna leave Hillwood High. And if my parents found out about the incident they'd send me there right away, so Sid decided to take the blame." Rhonda explained.

"Were you guys… you know. Seeing each other then?." I found myself getting more and more curious about this.

"No. It was complicated, we liked each other but we belonged to different groups."

I scoffed, "I can't believe you followed that stupid rule.

"Me too." She told me to my surprise when I really expected some snobby, nonsense retort from her. Rhonda Lloyd turned to look at me and smiled, "thanks for hearing me out Helga.

_I shrugged as if to say 'don't mention it' even though I wasn't sure what she was thanking me for._

**Author's Note: So I'm trying to finish this before uni starts in a few weeks. Wait for the next chapter, it's gonna be exciting ;) ;) …. Xoxo. **


	9. Casanova

**Chapter 8: Casanova **

_'Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving' –William Shakespeare, Othello._

"Where were you yesterday Sid? You didn't show up at the arcade." Harold asked Sid one October morning as he picked him up and drove to school.

"Sorry Harold. I just got kinda busy."

"Was it a girl Sid?." Stinky smiled at his friend.

_Sid grinned cheekily as if to affirm his friend's assumption._

"Well next time gimme a heads up idiot. I looked like a moron waiting for you."

"Duly noted Harold." Sid said.

"Harold, I was there too. Wilikers it's not you were all alone or somethin'." Stinky reminded.

"Whatever man." The bigger boy turned on the radio.

"So who was the girl Sid?." Stinky turned to his friend who was busy texting someone on his phone in the back seat, "Was it Rhonda? On accounta you two've been awfully close for a while now. Always hanging' out together in the hallways and stuff…"

"Uh yeah, we're just friends." He shrugged his pale face reddening.

"They all say that," Stinky said with sheer annoyance. "You know you don't hafta keep a secret from me Sid."

"Stinky I swear I'm not keeping anything from you, as soon as we start going out. I'll let you know."

"Then whycome you're not a couple yet?."

"We just need time Stinky, s'all. I mean, this kinda stuff takes time doesn't it?."

Stinky and Harold looked at each other and then at Sid and suddenly burst out in laughter.

"What?." Sid asked oblivious.

"You- you crack me up Sid. Such a dork." Harold told him in between laughs as they reach Hillwood High's parking lot.

"Yeah Sid, since when were you so serious about relationships and stuff?."

"You know what? Screw you two." Sid angrily slammed he car door leaving the two boys stare at him in shock as he walked to school alone.

"You mean he's really serious about this?." Stinky finally asked.

"Whatever man, let's just head to class." Harold huffed grabbing his books.

.

.

October 6th. Tomorrow's Arnold's birthday I stared sadly at the date I scribbled on my history notebook. When he was still here he'd have his party over at the roof of the boarding house. The morning before his 12th birthday I tried baking a mini cake for him but got it all burnt, he just smiled at me and took me to Bigal's.

"Helga?." I woke from my daydreaming to find Mrs. Cruz standing above me with a look of slight concern on her face. "Is everything alright? You look tired."

"Uh… ya I- uh, stayed up last night studying for this quiz I have today." I lied.

"Ok. But please try to pay attention to today's lesson, it's important for next week's exam."

"Sure. Sorry."

"Rhonda and Sid sure have been hanging out together a lot lately." Phoebe remarked during lunch.

"There are rumors goin' around that they're dating." Gerald said taking a bite out of his sandwich.

_I looked at the new couple who sat together at a corner in the school cafeteria. They were talking and laughing together, Rhonda took a French fry and fed it to him.  
Sasha and Hailey haven't been bullying Rhonda since the food fight incident and I guess that helped Rhonda and Sid become more open about their relationship together.  
I felt happy for Rhonda after all she's been through, the girl deserved a break._

"Seems legit." I said.

"They look so cute together." Phoebe gushed.

"Yeah they cute and all, I doubt it'll last though. I mean, we _all_ know Sid's Casanova reputation." Gerald burst her bubble.

"Oh I hope you're wrong Gerald." Phoebe looked concernedly at him.

"I think they really look serious." I contradicted. "Hey, didn't Curly have that crazy crush on her when we were kids?."

"Yeah so?." Gerald asked.

"Whatever." I decided to drop the subject realizing its insignificance since he's probably moved on.  
_Out of all the kids we grew up with Curly's been the least everyone's ever talked to after PS 118. The guy's calmed down now in contrast to his borderline reputation in grade school._

_It's our second week into theater class and we all got our roles and started rehearsing for the play which was scheduled for February.  
The play's a modernized version of William Shakespeare's Othello. I got the role of Emilia and who gets to play Iago my husband?._

_"_So we get to pretend like we're married Helga, isn't that funny?." Sid chuckled after we were done for the day.

"Uh… sure." I told him not getting what exactly was funny about the situation.

"So where do you wanna practice? My place or yours?." He asked me following me to the door.

"How about we take turns." I dryly suggested.

"Cool."

Seeing how we're walking together I decided to ask him about Rhonda. "So, where's Rhonda?."

"She's got some mani appointment with Nadine or something," he replied casually.

"Can I ask you something Sid?."

"Ask away." He readily replied not pausing for one second to wonder why.

"Are you and Rhonda?- like are you two serious?."

Sid blinked a couple of times at my question and for a moment there I expected him to come up with some excuse to leave and avoid answering my question. But he simply stopped in his tracks prompting me to do the same.

"I like Rhonda," he started. "I like her a lot; of all the girls I've dated, Rhonda's the most serious relationship I've had so far." He finally looked at me and gave me an assuring smile. "So don't worry about her, I'm never gonna do anything to hurt Rhonda. And I'm ready to take on anyone who tries to do so."

_No doubt about it…_

"Ok so I'll see you Wednesday for practice. Your place." And he left me.

_'So I guess that proves it Arnold, people do change, and not always for the worse. I kinda believe him.  
That doesn't mean I'm letting my guard down though, if he hurts Rhonda in any way. He's gonna have a little reunion with 'Ol Betsy here.'_

**Author's Note: Thanks for the awesome reviews guys, really appreciate it.**

** Conor Dachisen: Yes we will Conor, soon too ;) and thank you so much for correcting the mistake I made. Really appreciate how you focus on the little details of my story. **

** Joyce LaKee: Thanks Joyce, ya I realize I'm usually particular about details like those to give it a more realistic feel. And yes! I'm glad you feel that way about Rhonda because that was exactly how I wanted to portray her. She's a sophisticated teen who just tries to fit in, but she has her limits.**

** Anjyu: You'll get some Arnold in this story hun I promise you that! ;)**


	10. Arson

**Chapter 9: Arson**

_' The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief; He robs himself that spends a bootless grief.' –William Shakespeare, Othello._

.

_Miriam huffed as she checked herself in the mirror, twisting and turning checking for tears or loose strings or lint or whatever could possibly ruin her chance of making a good first impression.  
She applied for a job as a news anchor at the local TV station. Miriam Pataki; News Anchor. I think it suits her well, she's great with deadlines and working under pressure. Heck she's been living with Big Bob Pataki for over twenty years; if she was able break through that she can do anything.  
And she used to be the Beeper Queen. Who can top that?._

"Mom you look fine I promise." I told her sitting cross-legged on her bed.

"Honey," she clicked her tongue still looking at the mirror. "When you're going for a job interview, _fine_ is not enough, you remember that- Olga! Where's that hairspray honey?."

"Found it mother!." Chimed Olga rushing in to the room and quickly spraying Miriam's hair till it looked like not even steel could cut through it. "Voila! Perfect."

"Thank you sweetheart, come on Helga. I'll drop you to school on my way."

"Mom. I need to tell you something." I said as we got into the car.

"What is it honey?." She asked starting the car and fasten her seatbelt.

"Sid's coming over for practice this afternoon."

"Sure, ok. Want me to pick you up after school?."

"Na, I wanna catch up with Pheebs."

.

"You've grown taller man but you still suck at basketball." Gerald told Sid as he along with Stinky, Harold and Harold were leaving the school basketball court after school that day.

"I never claimed to be a professional Gerald and you asked me to play." Sid defended himself in good humor.

"What you should've done was to claim how much you suck." Harold told him.

"Whatever man."

"It's all that smoking that's what it is Sid." Stinky claimed.

"_You_ should talk." Sid retorted.

"I don't smoke as much as you, neither of us do."

"To each his own." He shrugged and looked at his watch. "speaking of which, I'm gonna go take a quick smoke before going over to Helga's for practice."

_And with that he disappeared at the back of the auditorium where most kids usually smoked. It was strangely empty that day but Sid didn't think much of it._

"You spray way more perfume than your girlfriend! Criminy!." I complained as I opened my bedroom's window to get some clean air in. "And it's not covering the smoke smell. Lucky for you I was the one who got the door, if Big Bob caught you you'd be dead."

"Uh…. Sorry?."

"You should be! Couldn't you wait till after practice to smoke?."

"Again, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"You need some help." I huffed plopping on my bed and grabbing my script. "Let's get this over with."

_After a couple of hours of practice we decided to take a break and meet up at Sid's place for next practice._

"You know what I like about this play?." Sid said as he walked with me towards the front door. "Is that it's in normal English. I almost ran out to change my extracurricular activity to Community service once I heard it was a William Shakespeare play."

"Sid aren't you staying for dinner?." Miriam asked him as she stepped out of the kitchen still wearing her suit.  
The tailored button shirt and pencil skirt really complimented her figure.

"Thanks Mrs. Pataki but maybe next time. My dad's taking me out for Pizza." Sid politely declined and as soon as she disappeared back into the kitchen he remarked how hot she was to which I replied with an _'Ew.'_ Before slamming the door in his face.

He left just in time before Bob parked his car in front of the house and exclaimed on entering, "Criminy! Did someone break a perfume bottle or something?."

"Dinner's ready B!." Mom called out and once we were all at the table she said, "Olga. B. Helga. Before we eat, I have an announcement to make."

"You're not pregnant are you?." Bob blatantly asked making me choke on my water.

"No B, I'm not." She looked at us silently with a smile and the exclaimed, "I got the job!."

"Mom! That's great!." I told her as Olga squealed and got up from her seat to hug Miriam.

"Ya, congratulations Miriam." Bob got up from his seat as well and gave a her a kiss.

_It kinda caught me off guard. I mean, I have seen Miriam giving him a kiss on the cheek before he left for work but I wasn't used to this side of him.  
It made me realize how unpredictable this guy can get! One moment he's this guy who just sits on the couch watching The Wheel right after dinner without having any conversation with anyone at home besides Olga occasionally and the next, he notices me and Miriam and occasionally has a decent conversation with us.  
Maybe it does add a little 'homey' touch to the Pataki residence sometimes but it still doesn't make me wanna stay any longer._

_After dinner I went up to my room and checked my phone to find a message from Phoebe telling me that part of the auditorium was burnt by some fire that started in the afternoon. Nobody knows who started it._

_Of course the school was buzzing about the big news the next day and so many students had gathered around the auditorium to see the damage._

"I imagined it to be bigger." I told Phoebe.

"I did too, but still. A damage is a damage."

"It's gotta be Heinmitz ." Rhonda joined in the conversation.

"Chill out Princess, why would they be interested in us? They're the ones kicking our school's football team's butts we're the ones who should be vandalizing their property." I cleared out Rhonda's silly theory.

"I heard it was some random drunk guy who didn't put out his cigar before throwing it there." Nadine said and soon enough other kids joined in the rumor fest. I just rolled my eyes and told Phoebe I was gonna go get something from my locker before the bell.

_The hallways were unusually empty, mainly because everyone was outside by the auditorium. When I reached my locker I heard a couple of whispers one of them I made to be Sid's.  
I'm usually not that curious about what goes on between the kids in school but I inched closer to see who it was and saw Harold and Sid talking secretly by the janitor's closet in the corner._

"Remember when You, Stinky and I went on the lam just because we thought we blew up the abandoned police station? We shouldn't be jumping to conclusions like this!." Sid told him.

"Ya but you told me you were the only one smoking there, it could've been your cigarette."

"We don't know that yet Harold."

"I'm trying to help you out man."

"Well you're not doing a good job about it. I'm sure I put out my cigar before throwing it away. Heck I'm confident about it!."

"Ya but you were in a hurry!." Harold told him getting frustrated.

"Look man, I know what I know ok? Let's just see what happens. In the meantime we'll just be quiet about it, nobody should know. Not even Stinky."

_Harold hesitantly agreed and I quickly ran towards the nearby girls bathroom to hide before they saw me.  
My mind felt fuzzy with the sense of panic that was slowly engulfing me, how could Sid be so brazen about the situation? And why did I care? It's not like it was major fire or something._

_The fuzziness didn't die down even during third period till Principal Beaton's voice came on through the speakers in every classroom. _

'Students of Hillwood High, the police are still investigating the cause of this minor arson incident. In the meantime I urge any student with any bit of helpful information I urge him or her to come forward. That is all.'

.

"I hope everyone drops the subject soon," Sheena said uncomfortably looking at the students around the cafeteria. "There's so much bad energy going around and it's making me feel sick." She closed her eyes and tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, her beaded necklace following the motions of her chest expanding and retracting.

_It's been two days and the gossip and theories about the arson hadn't died down yet. And for the last two days I couldn't look at either Rhonda or Sid in the eye! It was like I was the guilty one!._

"I'll have to agree with you Sheena." Rhonda put her food tray down and took a seat at our table. "There's nothing to talk or gossip about besides this stupid subject! I hope whoever did this gets caught soon so we can all get on with our lives."

_In the class after our teachers gave around flyers, freshly printed ones. I could still smell the ink.  
It was a charity Halloween party to help collect enough money to fix the damage at the auditorium and improve school security._

_Improve school security?..._

"This is gonna be so cool!." Exclaimed Andrea, a ditzy girl in my Algebra class. "I've been praying for my parents to like leave town or something so I could like make my own Halloween party!."

"I don't the school party is gonna be any different from the party you wanna throw, it's still gonna be chaperoned." Park who sat behind explained to her to which she pouted saying nothing ever goes right for her.

_That girl is so blonde…_

"So I decided to go as Cleopatra and Sid as Mark Anthony." Rhonda told us the following week as the girls gathered at Slausen's for the weekend. 

"Gerald and I are going as Doctor and Nurse respectively." Piped Phoebe.

"I still haven't decided what I'll be going as!." Nadine huffed in frustration.

"How about you Helga?." Phoebe turned to me.

"I don't think I'm going." I said.

"Not going? Helga you can't be serious!." Rhonda gave me a look of horror like I'd just told her that I wanted to do something notorious like world domination.

"But you signed your name Helga." Phoebe reminded.

"I'm paying for the party, just not going."

"Is it because you don't have a costume?." she asked me.

"I know what it is," said Rhonda in her all knowing tone. "You don't have a date. Look I can set you up with someone if you want-"

"It's not about that either, I just don't wanna go alright?."

"Helga, you're gonna be missing out."

"On what Rhonda? It's just a school party."

"A school party with your friends." Phoebe gently placed a hand over mine's. "I'd love for you to be there Helga."


	11. To San Lorenzo

**Chapter 10: To San Lorenzo**

_'… but I do love thee! And when I love thee not, Chaos is come again.' –William Shakespeare, Othello._

"Perfect" _I mumbled throwing my pink backpack on the floor and flopped on my bed. Now I have to think about what to wear to the party._

_The real reason for me not wanting to go was that I'd planned to run off to San Lorenzo over the weekend. After months of planning and saving up I decided that I'd take a plane to San Lorenzo and find Arnold based on the address from his letters.  
It was supposed to be the perfect, foolproof plan but now the party came up and I didn't want to disappoint my friends._

"Helga honey_," Mom's voice came from behind the door_. "dinner's ready."

"I'll be right there mom_." I replied, then as if a light bulb lit over my head I got off the bed and caught up to her._ "Mom, my school's having this Halloween party in a week and I don't have a costume."

"I can help you with that baby sister." _Olga overheard me and quickly grabbed my hand towards her room.  
_"Let's see." _Olga rummaged through some of her old stuff and got out some photographs_. "These are all my Halloween costumes over the years, you can use them for some inspiration- Oh! Oh my gosh! This is me in the 9th grade as Marylin Munroe, how about it Helga?."

"That flashing bimbo? I'll pass."

"Oh and here I am as Farah Fawcett as a Charlie's Angel in the 10th grade."_ Olga showed the picture of her to me I shook my head furiously._

"An Angel?- Cinderella?- Playboy Bunny?."

"Olga, this is a _school_ dance. I'll get kicked out if I showed up as that!." _I sighed blowing a strand of hair away from my eye. "_I'm never gonna get a costume in time for the dance."

"Baby sister what am I gonna do with you?." _Olga started to pick up the photographs from the floor revealing a couple of magazines._

"You still read teen mags Olga_?." I asked her grabbing one and flipping through the very colorful pages filled with teens with very plastic smiles_._ I stopped at one page where a particular girl caught my attention, and with a smile I looked up at Olga and said, _"I think I know who I'm going as."

.

.

.

_The day of the dance came and I took one last look in the mirror before going downstairs to tell Olga I was ready.  
But as I descended the stairs I heard loud voices belonging to Bob and Olga, they were arguing… again. Ever since she came back to Hillwood she's been auditioning for plays off-Broadway, with not much luck. And much to Bob's dismay.  
_

_Olga stormed out of the trophy room and stopped when she saw me by the stairs. Thankfully Miriam wasn't around to see this. She was so stressed the last time._

"I'll get the car ready," _Olga gave me a weak smile before grabbing her keys and leaving._

_It was a fairly quiet drive until a song came up on the radio that seemed to uplift Olga's mood_. "This is my favourite song!." _She exclaimed raising the volume and we drove off in her convertible, the lovely autumn air blowing through our hair._

_' Cuz you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I can just see you, if I can just hold you… tonight…' _

"Have fun Helga." _Olga said when we reached the YMAA gym which was the venue for the Halloween dance._

"Olga?."

"Yes little sis?."

"I just wanted to tell you … that Bob's wrong about you. You'll get your break soon enough." _I gave her an encouraging smile._

"Oh Helga." _She said her eyes filling with tears._

"I'm not just saying that. I promise. But look, to be on the safe side you can get a day job just to get him off your back."

"Thank you so much Helga," Olga leaned in and hugged me. "You always give the best advice."

_I wish; I replied in my mind. After breaking the hug I walked towards the party, glancing at my watch seeing that I have 5 hours left before my departure for San Lorenzo.  
The gym was packed, it looked like everyone from school was there. I couldn't spot Phoebe or Rhonda from the crowd so I headed towards Park who was dressed as Bruce Lee and Iggy as Batman standing by the snack table._

"Hey Helga, how come you're not in costume?." Iggy asked me.

"I _am_ in costume." I replied.

_They scanned my outfit which was basically a white tank top, a tie, cargo pants, striped arm warmers and sneakers._

"Uh- you decided to come as yourself?." Park concluded.

"Since when do I wear a necktie with a tank top?." _I started to get frustrated at how dense they were. Don't they listen to the radio?._

"Oh my gosh! Avril Lavigne!." Eugene exclaimed coming from behind me dressed as the Abdicator.

"Thank you!." I've never felt more grateful.

"Have you guys seen Phoebe and Rhonda?." I asked them.

"Rhonda went to the bathroom to fix her makeup." Sid replied appearing holding a cup of punch.

"Thanks_." I've been avoiding Sid like the Plague for the last couple of weeks, telling him it was best if we practiced on our own and rehearse at school once a month. I made up a story of me getting a part-time job at Big Bob's.  
He was wearing a chain around his neck with a small padlock, leather biker jacket with a vest underneath, skinny black pants and black combat boots._

"Sid Vicous?." Iggy smirked.

"The one and only." Sid grinned.

"Now that's an outfit that's close to his usual outfit but you can tell it's a costume." Park told me and I gave him a dark look.

"Cool outfit by the way," he complimented me. "I like Avril."

_I gave him a nervous smile and walked as fast as I could to the girl's bathroom. Rhonda was there along with Phoebe, Nadine who was dressed as a Greek Goddess and Lila as a ballerina. _

"Helga! You're not in costume?." Rhonda turned to face me when she saw my reflection in the mirror.

I just rolled my eyes, "I'm dressed as Avril."

"Oh- Original." her voice contrasted what she said.

"Girls the party started. Let's go." Nadine said and everyone rushed towards the party.

_Soon enough everyone was dancing with their dates and I was the wallflower. All the guys who I turned down had their own dates. I decided I'd better go sit at the bleachers, maybe I'd look less pathetic than standing by the snack table or against the wall.  
I thought I glimpsed a familiar football shaped head in the crowd of dancing students before climbing up to the bleachers but I shook it off thinking my anticipation of seeing him was starting to get the best of me._

"Hey!-." I felt someone suddenly grab my arm and I turned to find a tall figure wearing a suit and a black masquerade eye mask… a tall figure with a head the shape of a football!

_It can't be…_

"Missed me?." He asked with that familiar wide grin slowly removing his mask.

"A- Arnold!."

"It's me." He nodded "I understand it's been a while…" he trailed off nervously rubbing the back of his neck and looking away.  
Was he blushing?. 

"How?- ." I suddenly blurted.

"Huh?."

I was gonna see you in San Lorenzo in a few hours! I booked that flight!- I paid for the ticket!—I paid for the freakin' ticket!.

"How- what- when- why?... when?!." I stammered.

"Well I came back to Hillwood a couple days back and Gerald told me about this party so I figured I'd surprise you." He smiled.

_Oh Arnold…_

_I managed to smile back my mind still trying to take in the big surprise that hit me like a speeding truck.  
Before I could open my mouth to say anything I suddenly felt the ground underneath me move._

"Helga." Arnold pulled me away as the YMAA gym's floor split into half slowly revealing it's swimming pool.

"It's just like in the April Fool's dance!." I heard Harold say.

_And just like in the April Fool's dance questioning and surprised mumbles spread throughout the gym. But this time, to everyone's shock an empty swimming pool was revealed with words written in big letters_

_**'I DID IT –SID'**__._

"What is going on in here?." Principal Beaton along with the chaperones reached the scene. "What is the meaning of this Sid?."

"I have no idea! I swear!."

"Look there's a big brown envelope down there!." Curly pointed out and Coach Ebstein was sent down to get it.

"Gah!," coach cried when he slipped on the still wet paint in the pool. "This better be worth it," he huffed grabbing the envelope and seeing its contents.

_The chuckles died when Principal Beaton asked what was in it and Coach revealed it to be pictures of Sid smoking at the back of the auditorium and throwing his cigar away before leaving the scene._

_Cat's out of the bag…_

**Author's Note: So finally! The long awaited return of our favourite Football Head! I kept meaning to post this sooner but every time I started a new chapter a new idea came up and that just made it longer for me to reach this chapter. Hope it was worth the wait.  
The story doesn't end here. Stay tuned xoxo. **


	12. Aftershock

**Chapter 11: Aftershock**

_I woke up the next morning, I looked at my cell phone. It was 10 a.m. At least I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep.  
Memories of last night wouldn't stop haunting me. The sight of Sid being taken by the police, the sound of Rhonda sobbing and that nauseating, strong smell of paint. And Arnold was there… was it real? I mean I know what I saw but … I was supposed to be at San Lorenzo by now! I was supposed to go to Arnold not him coming to me!_

_My cell phone started ringing and seeing that it was a number I didn't recognize I ignored the call. But the person would call again- and again- and again…_

"What?." I finally took the call.

"Helga?." Came a familiar voice on the other line.

"A- Arnold!." I was so surprised that I fell off my bed.

"Are you ok?." He asked concernedly.

"I'm fine- how'd you get my number?."

"I got it from Phoebe. Listen, I was thinking about what happened last night." _So was I- _"And… maybe we should pay Rhonda visit."

_Arnold, so nosey yet so caring and mindful… It's just been a little over three days since he's here and he's acting like he never left._

"Ok."

"Great. I'll be over at your place in 15." He said before hanging up.

_And soon enough he was there, outside my stoop. I couldn't get a good look at his features last night what with the party lights, then all the commotion… but now that there's some daylight I can clearly see how much he's grown.  
He's gotten a couple of inches taller than me, his tan skin bringing out his now sandy colored hair and dark green eyes._

"What do you think?." His question woke me from my thoughts.

"Huh?." I managed to blurt.

Arnold gave a little chuckle, "I take it you haven't had breakfast yet."

"No I haven't." I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you up too early-?."

"No- no, I was already up when you called."

"Wanna go have breakfast first?."

"No it's fine. Let's see how Rhonda's doing first."

"Rhonda's over at Nadine's place since last night." Her mom, Brooke, told us. "Is everything alright? I mean, she sounded so—tired."

"Yeah, it was one heck of a party last night. We all had so much fun… trying to raise money …" I lied.

"Well I'm ready to donate half the amount required to fix the damage, I just hope they don't have to wear our kids like that."

_She talks as if we were twelve or something!..._

"Why'd you lie to Mrs. Lloyd?." Arnold asked me later.

"What did you want me to say to her? That her daughter's boyfriend got sent to jail for arson?."

He was silent for a few seconds. "Maybe you're right."

To my horror my stomach growled loudly in the silence that fell between us. "Let's go over to Bigal's and have some breakfast." He chuckled.

.

"So dad was showing us this spot where he found his first fossil when he accidentally stepped on some quick sand and-."

_So there I was, having breakfast at Bigal's with Arnold. Criminy! This seemed like it was half-dream half reality I didn't know which one to believe! A part of me was scared that when I finally got used to this he'll have to go away again… and I'll be heartbroken… again._

"I swear it's like dad almost always reminds me of Eugene." He told me in between chuckles.

"Why'd you come back?." I suddenly asked not realizing the words that have come out of my mouth.

It was obvious that I caught him off guard since he was quiet for a few seconds before shaking his head as if to wake himself up and answer, "Because I missed you—" Oh Arnold… "And all of my other friends…"

_Friends?!..._

.

_I've been avoiding Arnold for the rest of that weekend, the nerve of him saying the 'F' word to me!._

"Arnold cussed you out?!" Phoebe asked incredulously when I met her at school.

"No! He called me a _friend_." I emphasized the last word with air quotations.

"Oh dear!." She gingerly placed a hand over her mouth.

I groaned, "I mean, how could he?."

"Well, you _did_ stop writing to him first."

"What's your point?."

Phoebe sighed and rolled her eyes, "Forget it. Hey, there's Rhonda."

We saw Rhonda closing her locker and walk to class with Nadine by her side. Despite looking polished as always you could tell she was still troubled. A dark and tired expression could be seen beneath her makeup.

"Should we go talk to her?." I asked Phoebe even though I didn't want to.

"Let's."

"Hey Rhonda." I greeted with a weak smile when we caught up to her.

"Hey girls." She greeted back with a tired voice.

"You seem tired." Phoebe stated the obvious.

"Heard from Sid?." I asked cautiously.

She shook her quietly.

"I really hope they don't charge him though. It's not like he attempted to start any fire."

Rhonda looked at us and gave us a weak smile, "I should get to class."

I realized that in the midst of all the commotion that had happened over the weekend I totally forgot that Sid was my partner for the school play. He hadn't shown up today and I doubt he'll show up for practice.  
Phoebe's words to Rhonda this morning got me thinking, they may not really charge him with Arson. He could be possibly suspended for a few days.

"Hey Helga." Arnold came from behind me.

"Hey." I mumbled still looking ahead of me.

"Guess what?." He didn't seem to notice me acting cold towards him—so dense. "Principal Beaton told me about the mandatory extracurricular activities rule so I signed up for Theater. The theater instructor told me there was an empty spot in the play.

_No…_

"So I auditioned for it and got the part! I get to play Iago! Your husband."

.

"Isn't that supposed to be good news?." Bliss asked.

"It is but, at the same time it's not!." I replied flustered. All this holding back my anger and not exploding at Arnold for how stupid he is, is really wearing me out!.

"Care to explain that?."

"He said we should be friends."

"Ouch."

"You can say that again."

"What made him say that to you Helga?."

"I don't know! I don't ever know what goes on in that big head of his!." I flung my arms restlessly. "It's been over a year since we stopped writing letters to each other and then he suddenly shows up at the dance acting like he came back for me but then he tells me he missed all our friends!."

"What made you two stop writing to each other?."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, "Actually, I was the first to stop writing."

"Why did you do that Helga?."

"I don't know! I just—it felt pointless. He was all the way in San Lorenzo and I didn't wanna feel like a burden to him."

"But didn't you two agree to be friends before he left?."

"Yeah so?."

"I'm just saying that it's not fair to expect otherwise."

I was quiet for a few seconds. "I guess I got carried away- by all those expectations and dreams of how things would be like if we met each other again."

"Right now you're just pushing him away. There _may_ _be_ a chance that you two could get back to being together, but you need to start being more open to him. Allow him into your life again and see how things go from there. Maybe he just needs some time to realize his feelings for you again."

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update, I've just been going through some stuff that kinda wore me out for a bit. Hope you enjoyed this chapter xoxo**


	13. Who framed Sid?

**Chapter 12: Who framed Sid?**

"Wow you're really good Helga." Arnold complimented me placing his script on his bed. We were practicing for the play at his place the next afternoon.  
It's been a while since I've been in his room, nothing much has changed, except that it seemed a little smaller now.

"You're not bad yourself Arnold." I smiled.

"Wanna go over to Slausen's and get some ice cream?." He asked.

"Sure." I said.

I've been taking Bliss' and Phoebe's advise of being more open to him and so far it's been doing wonders. The reason for me acting a little reserved towards him since he came was the fear that he's going to want to be _just friends_ and that would be the death of me!  
I really want to get back with him- start dating again. Despite the fear that things might not turn out the way I want them to I decided I'd rather go with the flow than marinate in _what ifs_- …. Who knows what could happen?

.

.

"Hey that's Rhonda." Arnold told me and I followed his gaze behind me from the counter at Slausen's to see Rhonda walking on the street accompanied by Curly.

"What's she doing with Curly?." I asked

"He's probably taking her out to take her mind off Sid's situation."

"It's been a while since I've seen him talk to her… or anyone of us." I slurped my milkshake.

.

.

"And you suspect that he sees this as his chance to make Rhonda his?." Phoebe asked sitting crossed legged on her bedroom floor.

"Call it a hunch, but yeah." I told her as I changed into my pajamas.

"Maybe he's just being a good friend."

"Phoebe- Curly's taking advantage of the state Rhonda's in, kinda like being the rebound guy. He's so confident that in the state she's in she'd get attached to any person who gives her any comfort from the pain she's enduring-  
Though I doubt his plan's gonna work. Poor twisted little freak."

I think I called him that once…

"I sure hope not." Phoebe closed her book and put in her bag. "By the way, how are things with Arnold?."

"Ok- how else should things be?." For some reason I started feeling a little nervous.

"I was just asking." She innocently shrugged as she got on the bed. "You know what I noticed? He's back like he's never left- he's still the same Arnold we all grew up with. Everyone still loves him, he still loves everyone-"

"He's still Arnold…" I smiled at her.

.

.

"Those books look heavy Rhonda, how about I carry them for you?." I saw Curly practically glued to Rhonda by her locker the next morning, she didn't look the least comfortable so I decided to intervene.

"Thanks Curly I'm fine." Rhonda gave him a weak smile.

"Rhonda hey!." I greeted as I came in between them giving Rhonda more breathing room. "Wanna sit with us at lunch today? We missed you."

I could see from the corner of my eye Curly basically glaring at my intervention. "I hope you don't me borrowing her for a bit Curly." I told him with a little smirk.

He gave me an equally evil smirk despite the darkness that formed over his face still being there, "Not at all. it's not like I was keeping her all to myself."

_Yeah right…_

"See you in class Rhonda." Curly smiled and walked away casting us a couple of glances before disappearing into the corner.

"Thank you so much." Rhonda finally said to me, it seemed like she was holding her breath.

"What's the deal with him?" that guy is basically glued to your hip every time I see you two together."

"He means well." She seemed to try to convince herself more than me as she closed her locker and walked with me to class.

"Heard from Sid?."

"He told me he was coming back to school today-."

And just that moment, as if on cue, Sid appeared in the hallway. It looked like as he walked, everyone walked out of his way. Not in fear, I could see them casting death glares at him as if he's set the American flag on fire, criminy! It's just the stupid auditorium wall.  
And it wasn't like it was big fire… and since when did anyone besides Principal Beaton had School Pride?

Sid walked on looking straight ahead, coldly ignoring all the glares and whispers. He slightly turned and looked at Rhonda before walking away. Not saying a single word, not even a smile…

"You ok Rhonda?." I thought I should ask.

She took a deep breath and gave me a brave smile, "Yeah." She nodded. "-We talked on the phone last night. He told me we shouldn't be seen together in school… just to keep me safe. He kinda expected this reaction from everyone at school."

.

The stares and whispers continued even in the cafeteria when Harold, Stinky, Arnold and Gerald invited Sid over to their table.

"Hey don't care with what they say man," Gerald told him. "It'll all die out by next week when they find something else to keep them busy hatin'."

""Yeah Sid, we're by your side. Who cares what they gon' do," Stinky put a lanky hand over his friend's skinny shoulder. "We got your back."

"Thanks guys, honestly." Sid smiled.

"Yeah Sid, it's not like they really care if you burned the auditorium." Harold told him. "They probably wished you burned the school- maybe that's why they're mad at you."

Sid chuckled, "You're weird man."

"I believe you really thought you put out your cigarette Sid." Arnold smiled at him. "You didn't really mean to start a fire."

"Thanks Arnold," Sid smiled at him. "Welcome back. I missed you, we all did."

.

After school I decided to go over towards the auditorium to find an answer to the one question that's been ringing in my head ever since the incident at the Halloween party.  
Where and how were the pictures taken and most importantly who took them? It was obvious that somebody was planning revenge on Sid, following his every move till he found the right moment to frame him.

Darn it! The auditorium wall was already painted, everything was cleaned up.  
I should've expected this, I mean it has been some time since the incident. And since they believed Sid was guilty there was no use to preserve the crime scene.

"Helga?." I heard a familiar voice coming from behind me and turned around to find Arnold.

"Arnold! What are you doing here?." I asked him.

"I could ask you the same thing. I saw you walk towards here so I followed you, it's about Sid isn't it?."

"Doi…" I mumbled and walked away.

Arnold followed, "You don't believe it's Sid who did it?." He asked.

"Sort of- but there's one thing I wanna know; it's who took those pictures of Sid? Didn't the police say who it was?."

"No, and even if they knew who it was, that person must've asked that his or her identity be kept secret."

"But who would wanna frame Sid like that Arnold? Who holds that big of a grudge against him?."

.

.

"A lot of people from what I hear." Gerald told Arnold as he gulped down on some milk. "In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it was a girl."

"What do you mean?." Arnold asked as he placed his glass and plate in the sink.

"I mean Sid has been with a lot of girls. See, brother's got a way with the ladies. But it wasn't all serious. Some girl must have had her heart broken by that and plotted revenge." He explained.

"Seriously?." Arnold was almost incredulous. "I mean, that's a little too extreme isn't it?."

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned my friend." Gerald quoted as he let Arnold place some toothpaste on his toothbrush.

Arnold was silent for a few seconds. "Hey Gerald- you still talk to Fuzzy Slippers?."

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late update but I've just been going through some stuff for the past few weeks. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, thank you for loving my fic 3**


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